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In Lieu of a Trip to Vancouver

I stayed home and am working on a little makeover. That would be in the tiny guest room which once served as Jonathan's bedroom, followed by 11 years ago, an office for this woman who went to college at the age of 52. I have no recollection of how we removed the FSU wallpaper from the walls, but I clearly remember Matt being here and painting the trim on the overhead bookcases brown. Always looking to add a little style that son of mine is. Dancing Green by Sherwin Williams served me oh so well for these past 11 years, but it was definitely time for a refresh. Can you even believe I waited this long before changing it? I can't!

It all began with some inspiration fabric for a new quilt for the bed. I was going with a soft gray paint, however, someone whose name will go unmentioned for now, suggested I go with coral. Why not? From there I took my little fabric swatch to Calico Corners to finally use up my Christmas giftcard from Bill and Fallon. So here's the coral, and don't freak out about how bright and pretty it is. And don't call it pink please.

While this was ongoing, Sherri showed up and the first thing she said was, "are you painting it pink or green? Haha!

I also had the bright idea to move the bed which is not easy in a room as small as this. Moving it under the window with Nancy's help, I was okay with that. Until such time as Pam showed up, saying she liked neither the bed placement, nor that the wall color. I pointed out how I'd painted the inside of the shelving quite dark, but that was about all I could convince myself to do.

Previously the bed was in the place where you see the ladder.

Oh, and that orange quilt! Yikes!! Then it was Bruce's turn to give his opinion, and it too was not a good one. Following Nancy's horrible night's sleep with the bed under the window, I knew I'd screwed up.

The darker coral shows off a little better here:

Let me just tell you that there was a hell of a lot of cutting in, despite the tininess of the room. It seemed as if it took me forever, not to mention an entire gallon of paint. Every last drop. I had to buy more. :(

The following day, when I had it mostly done, Bruce and I moved the bed once again, and not only does it look better, but Nancy slept better, so there's that. By now you may be thinking to yourself, "why the hell didn't she just leave it where it was?" and I can't blame you for that. The idea is to create a tiny bit of space for a small dresser which I will be on the hunt for soon. Should you know anyone that wants to get rid of one, do please let me know.

I tidied up the shelves so they are no longer jam-packed, making several trips to Goodwill. As you see, until the quilt is complete I am just going with a white blanket! Nancy helped me some with that, choosing some of the combinations for the blocks. 50 down...32 to go!

Our sister Lisa made an incredibly generous offer to Nancy--if you will take Maureen, I have two excellent tickets to the AC Squared benefit show! I drove them over, dropping them off right out front because Maureen is still using a walker. Furthermore, she broke her hand!!! What next?

Turning my attention to the curtains, I'd purchased enough fabric for drapes only to the sill because of the planned placement of the bed. Oh well, onward...

Using the old curtains as a guide, Nancy walked me through much of it, turning the tabs for me. It has been eons since I've made any drapes, and it will probably be another eon before it happens again.

As is so often the case, when you go looking for something, it is not available. The minute you've settled on a second choice, the first becomes available. I really struggled to find an appropriate fabric, eventually choosing some that is a little more formal than I'd have liked. Because it was so plain, I bought some pretty awesome trim to jazz them up.

You would think it would be easy to sew trim on straight, wouldn't you? It is not. :) Bruce put up a new curtain rod, and I hung them a little while ago to get a notion for the hem placement. Photos forthcoming when the room is done.

Another supportive banner on the rails at North Orange Tavern where we took Nancy on Friday night. Food was good, with even better service.

In lieu of the trip to Vancouver, I was also able to attend the June sewing session for Days for Girls. This little label on the drawstring bags is so cute isn't it?

Sewing shields was my designated task, however, I discovered I was not very good at it; because it is the single most important part of the kit, I was assigned another task, threading ribbons through the tops of bags and another easy job, tying knots. Near the end of our time together, we put kits together in an assembly line fashion. Moving down the tables, we packed the plastic bags with two shields, eight pads, two pairs of panties, soap, washcloth, and illustrated instructions on how to use everything. A final Zip-loc bag to use as a washing receptacle, and it all fits perfectly into one of the above pictured bags that both keeps things private, and are designed to be carried on a girl's back, should she choose to do so.

About fifty kits were assembled on Monday, soon bound for their journey to Malawi. I've volunteered throughout my life and some volunteer work is more rewarding than others. This one is perfect.

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